The Super Nintendo or SNES still holds to this against the current line up of consoles. In terms of the large and diverse back catalog of games, SNES owners can still find something to play. However, it's the consoles amazingly long line up of RPG games to cater to everyone, not just the hardcore fans.
All of these games on the list don't just have good stories, they're quite long as well. A good game with a great story and a great length can always make a weekend go by fast, sadly. But, long games have to be done tastefully, and these games do make their lengths worth it.
10 Terranigma - 15 Hours
This classic top-down view RPG has a bunch of things to offer like a real-time fighting system which gives the player freedom to attack and to do other things. Plus adding different fighting techniques depending on the player's stance gives the game more layers.
The 15-hour playtime can be appealing for the light gamer. Terranigma is in that perfect range where players don't need to invest tons of time in order to enjoy a good story. The game is set on an Earth with two sides, the light side for growth and the dark side for the decline. With a pretty straight forward story, about these two forces going up against one another.
9 Shadowrun - 18 Hours
Loosely based on the sci-fi tabletop game with the same name, the SNES version takes a somewhat new form. In terms of gameplay, it's an action-RPG with a pleasing 18 - hour playtime. Players assume the role of "Jake" who is a mercenary, which are Shadowrunners.
As Jake, players spend their time in dystopian Washington DC in the year 2050. The combat is interesting since it's real-time and it happens at random. Players can be walking around and assassins or another hidden enemy can come up and attack the player, forcing the player to fight back.
8 Star Ocean - 20 1/2 Hours
The Star Ocean franchise has always been in second place to Final Fantasy since it's just as old and just as revolutionary. While the story lacked, it made up for it in mixing up the formula and the combat, while Final Fantasy has turn-based fighting, Star Ocean took the real-time fighting system. Which can feel better when the fighting is all done.
Even with being just under 21 hours, it still offers the same excitement that a Final Fantasy game has. It's also good to note that this is one of the first RPGs to have altered storylines. Meaning the story plays out what choices the player has made, one player ending can be different from any others.
7 Secret Of Mana - 22 1/2 Hours
The title is pretty innovative, the first having a "ring command menu", which allows players to pause the game in the middle of combat. While paused, players can make a decision on what to do next so they can win.
Adding on top of that, Secret of Mana also has a co-op option which is unheard of in RPG games. However, it works in this game where a second player can drop in and be in the main player's party. Even the world itself won critics and fans over, it's no wonder why it's one of the best games in the Mana series.
6 Chrono Trigger - 23 Hours
Now, this title is a big deal in many ways, it's changing the RPG genre for the better. Having multiple different endings, side quest that has an impact on the main story and how detailed the world is. To summarize what the game is about, it's about a group of heroes going through time to prevent a world-ending incident.
Which sounds pretty cool. The 23-hour playtime gives the player to explore what the world it has offer and the many things the player can do. What is also notable about it, is that it's considered one of the best RPGs of all time, because of that the debate between who's better between this and Final Fantasy ensues.
5 Harvest Moon - 25 Hours
Like most farm simulators, this game has hours of fun. 25 to be exact. And is much less stress than most of the other games on the list. Gameplay is basically fixing and maintaining a farm that fallen on hard times. It doesn't have any combat in it because players are farming this around.
Most of the gameplay is players spending their time doing chores, maintaining livestock and other things farmers do. Not just farming, but it expands by building relationships with townspeople and being a law-abiding citizen. Creating the farming simulator genres it sprouted up others like Stardrew Valley which are both often compared.
4 Earthbound - 28 Hours
This goofy light-hearted RPG deserves to be on this list. It's goofy humor, being self-aware, and that it's actually fun to play make it a good game for all. The 28 hours attached to it are worth it because from all the combat to exploring the player does will leave them wanting more.
Being set in rural America rather than a fantasy world, it's a change of pace because it grounds the game. Also, the combat system is sort of different, rather than random encounters, the players physically need to engage the enemy. All these things, from a good combat system to being a game for everyone are reasons why it's one of the best RPGs on the system.
3 Dragon Quest V: Hand Of The Heavenly Bride - 30 1/2 Hours
This series has inspired many others that came after it. For example, the game uses a monster collecting system which later can be found in the popular Pokemon series. Taking that away, it's a pretty straightforward RPG with the same basic play styles as most RPG's.
Even with a long playtime, it gives purpose to the investment like collections of monsters amongst other things. What makes this game stand out is it's rarity, as of now the only way to play it is on an emulator. Speaking of monsters, a cool little mechanic that the game has where players can train monsters so they can join the party.
2 Tales Of Phantasia - 31 Hours
Considered one of the original RPG's franchises, this game has been ported over so many times. For being 31 hours it has so much in it, the story alone will have players spending time figuring it out. What makes this game so innovative is that while its combat system is still like Final Fantasy combat, but still different. The game employs a combat system called "Linear Motion Battle System", or LMBS for short.
This system uses the turn-base system but rather than controlling all the characters in the party, the player only controls the main character. However, opting to go multiplayer gives the other players options to play as the other people in the party.
1 Final Fantasy V- 33 Hours
The 5th game from of the longest-running series, with a whopping 33 hours, it shows why it's the best of the best. And players are pleading for remaster. Most of the gameplay is pretty generic and follows the same formula for RPG's, straight down view with random encounters.
However, it still changes the concept in terms of freedom. The player can manage their party much more in this game than any other. Staying on the topic of combat, the game offers a mechanic called "Active Time Battle". Making the fighting more fluid and now there's a time limit for much time the player needs. Another cool addition is the job system, by giving each character a job it reflects on how much XP they are earning.